Gannett Wisconsin papers, mostly rural, consider centralized copy-desk and layout to reduce jobs

Gannett Co.'s 10 newspapers in Wisconsin are considering centralization of their copyediting and layout functions to save money by reducing jobs. "Publishers discussed the idea at a meeting last Wednesday that addressed several topics -- including consolidating work, according to a meeting agenda I've obtained," reports former Gannett reporter Jim Hopkins in his Gannett Blog.

According to Hopkins, the document, says the nation's largest media company is "looking at severance costs, which are significant. They will be meeting to walk through the process. At this time, we’re not sure if there are any showstoppers." Hopkins writes that a tipster tells him that the papers already share copyediting. The papers are The Post-Crescent at Appleton, The Reporter at Fond du Lac, the Green Bay Press-Gazette, the Herald Times Reporter at Manitowoc, the Marshfield News-Herald, the Oshkosh Northwestern, The Sheboygan Press, the Stevens Point Journal, the Wausau Daily Herald and The Daily Tribune at Wisconsin Rapids.

The move, Hopkins writes, "would not be surprising. The company has made clear that it's now favoring newspapers in its portfolio that are clustered together. Proximity makes it easier to share resources," one reason the company sold the Norwich (Conn.) Bulletin, the Rockford (Ill.) Register Star, the Utica, N.Y., Observer-Dispatch and The Herald-Dispatch in Huntington, W.Va., to GateHouse Media last year. A local investor later bought the Huntington paper. "Geography makes the 10 Wisconsin newspapers good candidates for consolidating work," Hopkins notes. "Eight of them are small afternoon dailies, within about two hours of each other." Only the Green Bay and Appleton papers, at 55,000 and 51,000, respectively, have circulations above 21,000. (Read more)